The present invention relates to the field of information technology, including, more particularly, to systems and techniques for document management.
Many companies turn to document management systems to help them store and manage their electronic documents. Some examples of documents can include emails, email attachments, technical documents, manuals, contracts, pharmaceutical submissions (e.g., drug approval applications), product catalogs, data sheets, case files, product specifications, and customer communications—just to name a few examples.
Statues and regulations require companies to preserve certain documents for specified time periods. Upon expiration of the time period, the document can be disposed. Automating retention, i.e., the information preservation and disposition process, is not a trivial task because of the amount of information that is generated and the complex relationships among different pieces of related information.
Thus, there is a need to provide systems and techniques to manage information retention.